Los Angeles (AFP)
American Deontay Wilder, beaten dry and stripped of his WBC heavyweight title by Tyson Fury Saturday in Las Vegas, will activate his revenge clause for a third fight with the Briton, American media reported on Monday.
The fight will take place "this summer, without another in the interim. I'm a warrior and ready to go back," the 34-year-old boxer, who conceded his first professional loss, in the form of ordeal for 7 rounds before the referee ends it.
Returning to this fight where he appeared powerless as never before in a ring, Wilder tried to explain it by pleading a rather unexpected reason. He claimed to have been tested before even facing Fury by the suit of about 18 kg worn for his entry into the MGM Grand, from the locker room to the ring.
"The point is, my uniform was way too heavy for me," Wilder told Yahoo Sports. "I had no legs from the start of the fight. On the third recovery they no longer carried me and collapsed. But I am a warrior and people know that I am a warrior".
"A lot of people have said to me," Something was wrong with you. "Indeed, but when you're in the ring, you have to bluff on a lot of things," added Wilder.
During this round, Fury sent his opponent to the mat with a sequence of left and right that touched him in the face and in the ear. Appearing dazed, disoriented and losing balance, Wilder never really recovered and after being sent back to the mat in the 5th round, one of his two coaches threw in the towel in the 7th, causing the stop arbitrator.
Speaking of Mark Breland, who threw in the towel, Wilder suggested to Yahoo that he won't be around anymore on fight nights.
Fury's brilliant victory followed a first epic fight that ended in a draw in December 2018.
While a "Wilder-Fury III" seems inescapable, boxing fans also hope for a fight for the unification of heavyweight titles between Tyson Fury and his compatriot Anthony Joshua, who holds the WBA, IBF and WBO titles.
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